this post was submitted on 23 Nov 2025
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Unpopular Opinion

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There’s a clear campaign against the mentally ill with the global rise of fascism. Lots of it shows up in anti homeless rhetoric, but you can see it in the MAHA and anti vaccination movements.

There’s no reason to use the word “r-tarded” to describe someone. As someone who’s worked with the intellectually challenged, it’s an insult to them to compare them with people who are willfully ignorant.

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[–] freewheel@sh.itjust.works 15 points 1 day ago (2 children)

When you stop being offended by letters on a page and direct that hate towards the individuals that use the word as a slur or out of context on purpose, you'll be a lot happier.

[–] MTK@lemmy.world 4 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

Do you also use the N word? Would you feel comfortable using that as an insult?

[–] starelfsc2@sh.itjust.works 2 points 18 hours ago

The N word is based off negro which is just black. Calling someone black isn't an insult so the only connotation would be to be racist. Retard is based on slow and I would want to call someone slow and imply what they're saying is moronic, so it literally fits perfectly. That said it's still used as a slur pretty often and it's purely a negative word so I still don't really use it.

[–] freewheel@sh.itjust.works 1 points 18 hours ago

No, but then that word has very few uses beyond slurs. The word 'retard', however, has many uses in technical fields - for example in setting internal combustion engine timings, or throttle settings in aviation. As always, context matters.

[–] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I'm not offended by "faggot" because of its shape, I'm offended by it because it takes me back to when Meathead John crushed my throat in the playground calling me it until I would ask him to beat up the boy i liked instead.

Words represent, communicate and are something. Humans have for the entirety of their use of language, understood that the signifier and the signified are interchangeable.

[–] freewheel@sh.itjust.works 3 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

I'm very sorry for your experience, but without knowing you and your history, I can't possibly know all of that. So I'm left with two choices - sharply limit my vocabulary in the hopes of avoiding making some random person feel bad; or acknowledge that each adult is best qualified to carry and deal with their own traumas.

[–] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 2 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

You don't have to limit your vocabulary at all, you merely cannot escape the perception of others based on your behavior.

It's not even limited to humans either - animals, insects will perceive and treat you differently depending on your behavior.

Nothing prevents you from kicking a dog, but the dog and anyone who knows about it will treat you accordingly.

[–] freewheel@sh.itjust.works 2 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Sure, but if you equate me with someone who kicks a dog just because I talk about master or slave database nodes, or the need to retard message rates - I'm also going to treat you accordingly.

[–] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 1 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

And honestly that's fair. If I'm sitting in a meeting and you're trying to browbeat me into calling something a slave in front of some African American co-workers, or you're talking about retarding something while someone explains they don't like that term because their child has Downs Syndrome, you are welcome to think we're foolish for caring - but I can't imagine that Any Given Person would walk away thinking you've gotten the upper hand there

[–] freewheel@sh.itjust.works 1 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Oh look, somebody else is trying to cast me as a monster because I refuse to be politically correct in a technical context. You should probably also demonize me for the fact that I live my life in a wheelchair and will occasionally refer to myself as gimpy

[–] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 0 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (1 children)

I'm not trying to cast you as anything, I'm extrapolating real world events from your theoretical responses.

The term "politically correct" is a thought terminating cliche. it's meant to detach real world experience from hypothetical situations. "Political" here is meant to cast the discussion on what the government is doing, I am not talking about the government, therefore whether this is politically correct or not is irrelevant.

[–] freewheel@sh.itjust.works 1 points 14 hours ago

If you're going to correct someone, at least understand the phrase first.

politically correct adjective us /pəˌlɪt̬.ə.kəl.i kəˈrekt/ uk /pəˌlɪt.ɪ.kəl.i kəˈrekt/ (abbreviation PC)

Someone who is politically correct believes that language and actions that could be offensive to others, especially those relating to sex, gender, and race, should be avoided.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/politically-correct

And I will point out again that I'm talking about using traditionally technical terms in a technical context. With that understood, feel free to continue demonization.

[–] VoteNixon2016@lemmy.blahaj.zone 0 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

You use that many slurs that avoiding making some random person feel bad sharply limits your vocabulary?

[–] freewheel@sh.itjust.works 2 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

I try not to use any slurs at all, but working in a technical field, I do occasionally use terms that have been picked up as slurs.

[–] VoteNixon2016@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

And that's okay, the context matters a lot. But someone's code will or won't compile regardless of if they call the branch "main" or "master"

In the context of this thread though, it really really seems like you just want to defend saying slurs

[–] freewheel@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

Why would I? I have the intellect and vocabulary to be specific when I choose to be insulting. For example, and only an example, I read you as a weekend intellectual, the sort of person who absolutely must be the smartest person in the room. Your lack of grammar and consistent punctuation gives me the impression you're Generation Y or Generation Z, part way through what will ultimately be an unfruitful and potentially very short career in tech; and you can't absorb why you're not moving up. The real reason, of course, is that you're bikeshedding everyone's language instead of learning the craft.

How many slurs did you count?

[–] TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world 0 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) (1 children)

sucks for you.

my dad used to beat me and call be f-word all the time. but i 100% don't see any issue with other people using it.

not everyone who experiences the same things as you comes to the same conclusions you do. post-structuralist theory isn't really so hot these days, but you seem to have referenced it as authoritative to your belief in controlling words.

[–] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 1 points 18 hours ago

Well that's why this sub exists - it is not a matter of fact but a matter of opinion. It's not even a matter of settled law in most places, or at least subject to scrutiny under precedent or context.

I agree its certainly an unpopular opinion and relevant to the sub, but posting an unpopular opinion in a space designated for such opinions does not mean that opinion becomes acceptable.